Accommodation: There is an option on the registration form which you can select if you would like to reserve sleeping space on the floor of one of the kindergarten rooms in the school. You would need to bring your own mat and sleeping bag. There is no charge for this. There are also many hotels in the area.
Click here for online registration form
More Information About Workshops and Presenters:
Practical Work – Strengthen the Body and Nourish the Soul, with Nancy Blanning
Children LOVE to see real work happening! They are truly interested in seeing adults doing real work. But in our fast, technologically mechanized world, no one has to do practical work anymore. But having this “ease” is causing “dis-ease” to our bodies, souls, and spirits. This workshop will explore the immense benefit of practical work to sensory development, self-confidence, self-esteem, and having an experience that what we do in life matters. We will do some movement imaginations that emphasize these tasks and think of how we can enrich our early childhood classroom with these simple and real activities. We will be moving our bodies, so dress accordingly.
Nancy Blanning has been active in Waldorf early childhood education for over 25 years, most recently as the therapeutic support teacher at the Denver Waldorf School. She is also a teacher trainer, mentor, and remedial consultant to other Waldorf schools.
Garlic Basket Weaving Workshop, with Allison Coldwell
In this 2 hour hands-on basket weaving workshop! Participants will be taught the art of weaving a round reed rattan garlic basket and will be guided to weave one from scratch! There is a $25 materials fee as all instruction and materials are provided.
Allison Coldwell is a recent graduate of the Toronto Waldorf School. After being briefly introduced to the craft of basket weaving as part of her grade 9 curriculum at TWS, she took it up as a hobby and absolutely fell in love with it! She has now turned this hobby into a business, Crafty’s Collection, selling her creations at local shops and farmer’s markets, and teaching weaving workshops. While spreading the joy of weaving with those around her, Allison continues to study the field of material art and design at OCAD University in Toronto.
Creating a Needle Felt Picture, with Lili Golbous
In this workshop we will learn to recreate a postcard scene in a circular frame. We will work with various needle felting techniques to create a soft surface with a depth of colour and beauty. You may bring your own card or cards and I will have some to choose from as well. All materials provided for an additional fee of $20.
Lili Golbous has worked in the TWS Kindergarten since 2020 . Before that she used to have a table at the Village Market to sell her crafts (bags, scarves and Waldorf dolls). She also teaches some children and adults hand crafts at her home. She enjoys making hand crafts especially with children.
Let’s Write a Puppet Story, with Dianne Goldsmith
In this workshop we will work in groups of two’s or three’s . Together we will create simple stories about workers – the farmer, the baker, the fisherman , the builder – whoever speaks to us. Then, we will discuss how to turn the story into a puppet show suitable for early childhood classes. There will be puppets to work with and offer inspiration. All stories will then be available to workshop participants. Bring your writing material of choice – paper and pencil, laptop i-pad.
Dianne Goldsmith was a kindergarten assistant and lead teacher at the Toronto Waldorf School for many years. After a puppet training course with Suzanne Down , she became an enthusiastic puppeteer. When she retired in 2015, she began to do monthly puppet shows at the TWS Village Market. During COVID she went on line with her stories. Currently, she mentors ECE teachers and teaches puppetry at the RSCC. She is a founding member of The Silk and Strings Puppet Troupe.
Form and Movement: An Experience Towards Harmony,
with Micaela Gonzalez and Liedewij Verbeeck
In this workshop, created as a nourishing activity for teachers, we will explore and experience the restorative qualities of form drawing and eurythmy. Through their common elements of form and movement, both artistic expressions bring balance to our being. We will draw forms individually and move them collectively in the physical space.
Micaela Gonzalez is a visual artist and Waldorf teacher. She teaches visual arts in the Waldorf Teacher Education program at Rudolf Steiner College Canada and works in Waldorf schools in Toronto.
Liedewij Verbeeck is an eurythmist, trained and specialized in teaching people aged 3 till a 100 years old. Currently she is working as a grade 1 assistant at Halton Waldorf School.
The Inner Work of the Teacher, with Yasmeen Mamdani
In this workshop we will take an in-depth look at our role as Waldorf teachers and discuss how to cultivate a practice of Inner work that can serve to nourish, replenish and revitalize our relationship to the work we do with and for children.
Yasmeen Mamdani began her career in Waldorf Education as a class teacher in the year 2000 after receiving her Waldorf Teacher Certification at the Rudolf Steiner College Canada. Yasmeen furthered her training to specialize in Therapeutic Education Support after completing the H.E.A.R.T. Certification in 2010. In addition, Yasmeen is a certified Orton-Gillingham practitioner and offers support to students who are struggling with reading acquisition and overall reading fluency. She is also a certified specialist in Learning Disabilities and works to support and advocate for students, teachers and parents as they navigate through their learning journeys. Yasmeen has been a member of the Rudolf Steiner College Canada Teaching Faculty since 2015 and supports teacher trainees in both the early childhood and grade school programs.
Soul Nutrition-Biography and Social Art, with Rihana Rutledge
“What nourishes your body, feeds your soul, and nurtures your spirit.”
Living in a fast-paced world, juggling a work-home-life balance is essential to model a caring attitude and caring for our own forces when supporting children’s development. This biography workshop invites you to take the courage to know more about yourself, looking through the lens of your childhood and the developmental milestones in your biography. Drawing on the gems of experiences of your personal life story,we will create social artistic exercises that foster conversation and sharing that can lead to strengthening your forces and celebrate finding balance.
Biography follows the human journey through the course of life events, transitions, and threshold experiences from birth to death. Every joy, sorrow, tear, laughter, and more are woven into the fabric of each person’s unique life story. Biography work can lead to insights, connecting us to threads of destiny of past events that we did not comprehend at the time. Exploring these events can support healing about who we are becoming and how we can take hold of these threads of destiny to make conscious choices about the future with hope and confidence.
Rihana Rutledge has trained in Anthroposophical Therapeutic Art and Biography. She is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design, Waldorf & Seneca College ECE Programs. Rihana has presented at WECAN Early Childhood conferences, the Anti-Racist Table, Sound Circle Center for Arts and recently the Emergency Pedagogy 2024 at Saugeen Academy. She has been a member of the WECAN Early Childhood Research Group since 2020 and contributed to the publication of the book, Becoming and Belonging, Supporting the Healthy Social-Emotional Development of the Young Child
Making a Wooden Honey Pot Spreader, with Tara Thornton
We will be using rasps, files, gouges and sandpaper to shape and finish a spreader or spoon for honey, jam or dip. We will finish it off with some (hand-made and food-grade), beeswax and oil wood polish. While we work, we can chat about ideas for incorporating some woodworking into the early childhood settings or for adult self-development in strengthening our will forces.
Tara Thornton has been involved with the Halton Waldorf School community in various capacities since 1995. She began as a class teacher and her class was the first to graduate at the current location on Orchard Road in June 2000. After spending some time at home with her children, Tara returned in 2007 as the Woodworking Teacher. She also worked as an Educational Support Teacher from 2008 until 2019. In September 2019, Tara began a class teaching journey with her second class, holding the grade eight graduation in June 2023.
Levity and Living Pictures, with Karen Weyler
In this workshop we will discover how being in the moment with the children and using imagery in our language moves the children, rather than resorting to giving directions and explanations. Also we will come to understand how pictorial language is the source of early literacy, and more.
Karen Weyler is the Director of Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher Education at Rudolf Steiner College Canada and the Director of the Collegeès Star Seedlings Family and Childcare Centre in Guelph. She has almost 30 years experience working with children from birth to seven, as a Kindergarten teacher, Childcare Supervisor, operator of home childcare, parent and child teacher, parenting coach and RECE. Her current teacher is her granddaughter Lena.
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